Is the IIAR growing some teeth?

I was very encouraged to see the Institute of Industry Analyst Relations (IIAR) start to tackle the controversial issue of ethics.

David Rossiter’s post outlines some examples of dubious practices within the analyst and vendor community and in the comments that follow, the conflict of interest that sometimes exists within AR was highlighted – i.e. on the one hand, AR folk want analysts to be ‘clean’, but on the other, their job is fundamentally about encouraging analysts to position the firms they are representing favourably against the competition. It is all too easy to allow such encouragement to cross that ethical boundary, and I think anyone that’s been in the analyst or AR game for a while can probably come up with examples of where this has happened.

So, if we are going have this debate, then I would like to see it balanced. Ethical questions in this area are not exclusively associated with the interaction between vendors/agencies and analysts, but most of them probably are, and it takes two to tango. The point here is that questionable activity among analysts is typically only commercially worthwhile if it is supported by the vendor dollar.

I have to admit that in practice, I have no idea how many dodgy commercial dealings go on in this space, and there is always the problem that people draw the lines in different places. I am therefore fascinated to see where this discussion goes and who picks it up. Will the IIAR be opening a can of worms by pursuing this then leave a wriggling mess on the floor? Or will it be brave enough to follow through and ultimately drive out a consensus or code of conduct that is actually going to provide some useful guidance? For the record, if anyone in the IIAR is reading this, I would gladly support such an initiative and would welcome the opportunity to contribute during any consultation process.

In the meantime, I am pleased that David highlights in his post the distinction between vendor funding/sponsorship and the question of ethics. The former is only related to the latter if the relationship is undisclosed. This is why I object so strongly to those who are continually inferring this link. Not only are they barking up the wrong tree by targeting firms like ours with an openly declared sponsorship or patronage model, they are also totally out of order.

So, it would be great to see the IIAR hammer out some principles a bit more objectively – and even better if it develops some teeth and challenges firms, both analysts and vendors, regardless of their size, on undesirable behaviour. This needn’t be in public, but it would nice to know that someone was keeping an eye on things.